Six teenagers with a flair for photography have proven that seeing the world a little differently can pay big dividends.

The boys from West Coast Secondary Education Support Centre, a new high school in Warwick for students with special needs, have blitzed a statewide photographic competition, winning the highest amount of prize money for any school in WA and the greatest number of individual awards for their pictures of local biodiversity.

The 15th annual Chevron Focus Environment Competition, open to all primary and secondary schools, calls for students to get outdoors and highlight endemic species and habitats and the need for sustainability – with winning entrants sharing in $25,000 worth of cash prizes.

With a variety of natural bush, birds and flowers on their new premises to explore, West Coast students - with varying levels of special needs - use photography for expression and their subject matter for research.

“It also enables students to find their creative side in a positive environment of ongoing learning and development in the art of taking a great photograph and developing their knowledge of nature,” deputy principal Joanne Kriziotis says.

“Our students look forward to compiling a short list of their best images, adding a relevant caption, researching their work then processing their entry. They spend time looking at a photography opportunity and as a result are gaining a good knowledge of WA native flora and fauna and WA ecosystems.”

Between them, winners Devlin Gannon, Ayden Ault, Fletcher Jessett, Christopher Holmes, Evan Munnoch and William Kendall won $950 between them and another $3000 for their school, most of which will be reinvested in campus photography equipment, including, they hope, a drone.